Maine-Sea

Ghosts of Highlanders of Culloden Moor and the expulsions and the serpentine mermaid Morag sing to the wind and sea that I am of the Highland Clan Morrison. The breath of a snow-bond easel and the Chi of ground ink say that I am an artist. Art has a unique connection to the sea and the sea has a unique synergy with the state of Maine. It is also one of the most northerly of the lower forty-eight and half of it was owned by England as part of Canada until the mid-1800’s. It is so northern that it has a colony of Puffin Bird, an aquatic subarctic bird. I used to have a friend from there who had a very dominate personality kind of like a New Yorker. He pronounced “ar’s” as soft “o.” The first year in Houston his son who can down with him got married, and got a raise. Ironically while New England tourism has its mark on it, Maine’s main industry is making paper from its vast forest. I am actually from near the port city of Houston and grew up near a swamp.

Maine has a very interesting mythology. The first thing that one notices is the camel which is a metal statue from the desert of Maine. As it is said, it was originally a farm. The “desert” appeared because of bad farming causing the top soil to blow off showing the sand underneath. It became a tourist site in 1917 with a sand museum.  Everything is in front of the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse which was built in 1895 with the brake water coming in 1951. The first keeper was known for his duck decoys. The flag on the light house is the Acadian flag which represent the Cajuns (Acadians) which were force to leave by the English in the 1760’s. The US named the national park on Mount Desert Island after them. The boat is for Penobscot Marine Museum which is a perfectly preserved New England town from the early 1800’s.The Eye on the very bottom of the picture is the lake monster Poco from Pocomoonshine Lake which are 30 foot snakes. In front of the camel is a lobster which is what most know Maine for. It is 8” x 10,” drawn with pencil and white charcoal and completed recently.

The Name of this piece is Snowy Log over Creak which was draws with ink and Sumi-e recently.It was relatively warm by snowing when I started drawing but dropped to the teen by completion. The Sumie I added gives how cold it was.  If you are interested in buying this or any other of my work email me at MatthewMorrison76@yahoo.com to order.

Colorado-Mountain

The Calis cats which is said to have the powers of the fairy magic and magical giant wolves that roam the Highlands and feed the poor fish swear that I am Clan Morrison. Bamboo, horsehair Sumie brushes and the life-force of charcoal recognize that I am an artist. Colorado is said to be the mountain Mecca for art. This arrived because the gold strike and then the silver strike. Also, my brother is from the state. He emphasized the large German population and Yellow Cake. My senior trip in high school taken with a local Christian School was to go skiing in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I was living in Texas, and little is remembered on the lower oxygen as it is the “Mile High State.” The first day I was there, I was up to my chest in snow.  I had not prepared for drawing in the snow so I missed the opportunity to capture the beauty on paper. I also signed up for the mountain hike. In five minutes into the hike, the snow was up to my stomach and I was out of breath. In reference to the other thing, there is a black cat that owns me.

Colorado has a very unique mythology even exuding Bigfoot. Behind everything is Mount Tava (Ute:Sun)also called Pike’s Peak and the people  are Tabeguache or “People of the Sun.”   (“Ta-Wa-Ah-Gath” is another name given for the mountain.) It is said to be the place of their creation story and is considered sacred. (They are said to be the descendent of Aztecs.)  According to their legend, Old Man Coyote opened a bag to see what was inside it from which the people escaped. Zebulon Pike tried to climb it in 1806 giving it his name. In 1893, gold was found in the mountain’s shadow. It was a ski resort until 1984. Everything is on a sand dune from Dune National Park which is honored by the national park quarter. The ski boot is for the big winter sports arena. The flower is the state flower Columbine. The name given by scientist is aquilegia (Latin: eagle because its peddles look like talents) its meaning is either foolishness or holiness.  The bird on the boot is the state bird lark bunting. The weird box is the state mineral Rhodochrosite. It is 8” x 10,” drawn with pencil and white charcoal and completed in 2014.

The name of this piece is Frozen Ditch, is 9” x 12” and drawn with ink March 2014. This was drawn on a gravel road when I was in the Indiana boondocks in the winter. (It was not really that cold that day.) Frozen streams have a unique beauty as the media and the sculpting untencle are formed into one. Also, it is a forest stratteling a road or nature and civilization living in harmony. If you are interested in buying this or any other of my work email me at MatthewMorrison76@yahoo.com to order.

New Jersey- Devil

Misty magical islands off from Scotland and beautiful, angelic creatures that transform into seals when they wear a skin call me Clan Morrison. Magical fairy knolls and the fraternity and oddity of artist declare me an artist. The art Mecca of New York is completed in New Jersey as the Statue of Liberty is actually in New Jersey. Also, Benjamin Franklin’s son was the last royal governor of there.  The name New Jersey is from the British protectorate and Francophone of Jersey which is officially independent. Ironically there is some confusion about the “Jersey Boys” and people from Jersey island. (They are the only people who speak French with an English accent) But, the state, also, has a dark side. I ask my father what to put for New Jersey and he said crime rate. To hide the slums from the interstate, high green, concrete walls were built in front of them. The government is said to have caused the greatest traffic jam in American history to show its power. One should also not forget about Jersey Shore © and “Boardwalk Empire.” In regard to the first sentence, I write this after a bout of monastic meditation.  

  

New Jersey is renowned for its mythology. Everything is on the famous Atlantic City’s Board Walk. It was created in 1870 to protect the trains and fancy hotels from the sand but it was not until 1883 that the hundreds of store were allowed on it. The Boardwalk did not gain its current size and design came in 1916 and gambling coming in the 1970’s. Everything is in front of a water fall, Great Falls.  Falls are from the City of Paterson and created a place for the mill with the Society for Establishing Useful Manufacturers (S.U.M.) in 1792. The light bulb is for Thomas Edison’ “Invention Factory” in Menlo Park, New Jersey.  The plank on the light bulb stand has the symbol of the Appalachian trail which goes trough that state. The weird horse with bat wings is my rendition of a “Jersey Devil,” New Jersey’s cryptid. (Their Bigfoot flies.)The story of its origin goes that Mrs. Leed pray to the Devil when she was in labor with her 13^th child for that child to be a demon.  The creature supposedly lives in the southern Pine Barrens of New Jersey.  The cannon is for the cannon that the mythical “Molly Pitcher” manned  after her husband was incapacitated during the American Revolution as the state was the cross roads of that war which is memorialized on its state quarter. The flower is the state flower of violet. New Jersey was drawn recently with pencil and charcoal and is 8” x 10.”

The name of this piece is “Cat” and is Sumi-e on rice paper which is 12” x 18” early December 2015. Japanese have a unique obsession with cats with Hello Kitty © as an example, but is not a royal or religious symbol. It could be from the Chinese good luck, home statue of a gold cat waving its right front paw in blessing over the passers. I used my sleeping cat as the model. If you are interested in buying this or any other of my work email me at MatthewMorrison76@yahoo.com to order.

California- Hollywood

Inhabited Crofts with grass roves and Scottish “Stone Hedge” in Calabash declared to the Hebrides islands themselves I am Clan Morrison. Beachwood easels and Rice Paper echo I am an artist. The great Mecca for art is California. It is said to be the land of fruits and nuts. (Unclear if it is reference to the population.) But, it was gold that brought Anglos to the state. My dad is from California and he wears socks and sandals which could explain why that style is becoming popular. California is more or less the trend setter of the nation which bucks trends. Fashion creates California because they are Hollywood but do not care what they look like.  For as dry as California is, it is also amazing how agrarian California is.  Most spinach and raisin is raised in the state. The animation and agriculture culture created the “California Raisons” cartoon. The name California is from the Greek mythological, utopian island. The Spanish thought it was an island. There is also the element Californium. The Callidash stones are defiantly Morrison.

California is by definition mythological. Everything is in front of the famous peak and water fall of Yosemite National park. Lincon declared it sight unseen a national trust ruled by the state during the Civil War. In 1889, John Muir discovered the Yosemite Valley and lobbied for it as a national park. It became one in 1890 and is best known for Photos by Ansell Adams. On the peak is the “Hollywood” sign. First erected in 1923, it originally said “HOLLYWOODLAND” and did not have lights. It was reborn in 1978. The castle on the side is for the “sleeping beauty castle” of Disneyland. (adapted for the side of a hill) The head peeking in on the right side is a California Sea Lion. The sombrero is for the Spanish ownership of the state. Everything is on the original flag of the state in its uprising during the Mexican War. The current state flag is based on it. The jelly jarIs for the Knott’s family that created the Boysen berry and is a name brand for jams and jellies which originates from California since 1921. The flower in the hat is the flame flower. It is pined on by the symbol of the Fishermen’s Warf in San Francesco. I drew this picture recently with pencil and white charcoal.      

 The name other is piece is “Carpenter Log” and is made win ink and 12” x 18.” The name is from the road that it was next to. Trees even fallen gain a unique beauty like mussels raped around bone.  A tree fallen has life coming near death’s magical cure surrounding it, but yet the fallen tree’s branches pull toward the sky.If you are interested in buying this or any other of my work email me at MatthewMorrison76@yahoo.com to order.

New Hampshire-Granite

Water horses which can mask as beautiful women and vanishing maidens who unfurl battle flags which release thousands of warriors swear that I am Clan Morrison. The beautiful dance of the brush and the chi of the white charcoal blending graphite and paper swear that I am an artist. New England has a unique connection to art. New Hampshire gains the power of the mountains like West Virginia which ironically drawn many people from Massachusetts and the like called “flat-lander.” The state transformed from agrarian to industrial to Tourist. New Hampshire has become one of the only New England skiing abodes. There is also Lake Champlain and its monster. Weather people know the state for Mount Washington as it has the fastest wind in the nation. Climbing is also big there. My mother’s old boss had a secretary from there and stole my mom’s pen because it had a NH on it.  (NH was my mother maiden initials.)I was  able to find an online scan of the MacLeod Fairy flag.

 

New Hampshire’s mythology has a difference from other states. The purple lilac is the state flower made official in 1919 and New York’s bush which is in front of everything. It is a harbinger of spring, but more importantly in is the symbol of endurance with it growing to be a hundred as NH is called the granite state. The building on the right is a shaker barn. Shakers were founded by Mother Anna who thought she was the female Jesus and received visions to invent circular saws. The Concord news paper is named “Mother Anna.” The face on the right is the “OLD Man of the Mountain.” According to the Native Americans, Mohawk Indian Chief Pemigewasset brought peace through his marriage, but his wife left to visit her dying father. The whole winter, he looked for her return until the Great Spirit took his life. That spring, his face was on the cliff still looking for her. In 2007, it fell off the cliff and his spirit was free.  The weird “yelling” doll behind the lilac is for the Andre Nature Trail where sculptures are brought in from around the world.  I drew this picture a few mouths with pencil and white charcoal.

The name of this piece is “Indiana Yard” and was done in ink almost two years ago and is 12” x 9.” One of the joys drawing on the spot is ink in the pen freezing. The solution is to the nib between thumb and fore finger. Snow has a unique beauty on evergreens as it is frozen death battling eternal life. This also has sweeps and curtains made with snow on green chandlers. If you are interested in buying this or any other of my material email me at MatthewMorrison76@yahoo.com to order. 

Wyoming-National Park

Hallows of enchanted knolls of vanishing peoples called “shee” and harbors that harbor mermaids and water horses sing to the seas that I am Clan Morrison. Enchanted Zen art of Sumi with a thousand shades of grey holding the four seasons and Asian graphite from India and China likewise show ying/yang show that I am an artist. Mystery inspires art and one of the truly mystic states is Wyoming. But, Wyoming calls itself “the Cowboy State.” Wyoming is neither Texas nor Montana. The state is better known for national parks. Because of this the state is largely, indirectly dependent on the federal governmental aid from the parks such as the Grand Tetons. Ironically, the state is traditionally, financially conservative but was hit hard by the government shut down cause by the people they elected. But, the Grand Tetons are what make The West great. Snowbound buffalo herds and the wild grizzly show a unique heritage. My primary art form is nature. The lone bald eagle is a symbol of America because it flies freely. America has to protect this beauty. The Parks are honored with a set of quarters. Animal planet had a special proving mermaid existence in 2013.

Wyoming has an over arching mythos which separates it from any other state. Everything is on “Old Faithful” from Yellowstone National Park. It is on an active volcano and was first recognized as a protected site by President Grant making it the first. The Native Americans named it "Mitzi-a-dazi" which French translated to “yellow stones” and is important to the regional flood legend. The geyser is said to be actually a buffalo that is buried. The first Anglo was a man named John Colter who went trapping from the Lewis and Clark expedition and thought he saw hell and was made fun of with “Colter’s Hell.” Ironically, the Native Americans said that Doh Ki  (God) gave it to them as a promise land and were the first poachers in the park. (During the Indian Wars) The boot is from the Frontier Day of Old West Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming which honors the first rodeo and largest in the state in 1897. It is a big West and art fair. The flower is the state flower Indian paintbrush which cures women’s issues according traditional medicine. I drew this picture last March with graphite and white charcoal.    

The name of this piece is “submerged stones” and was drawn recently with ink, sumie and Chinese watercolors. As I said before all of the American nature pieces I do are from life. This piece is no exception. It almost ended up in that same stream in the back woods when my chair shifted which caused my drawing pad to fall to the creek bank  I carefully moved my foot to rescue it. If you would like to buy this or any other of my pieces email me at MatthewMorrison76@yahoo.com.

Wisconsin- Otherness

Forgotten battlefield with ghosts of Highlanders fighting for freedom and claymores set in museums but still know the way of battle recognize that I am Clan Morrison. Ancient Zen art with black ink stone and Asian graphite recognize that I am an artist. As an artist, a return to nature is important as it is letting God express Himself. One could say Wisconsin is a good example of this. Living in Indiana and watch Chicago television, Wisconsin had a certain otherness. Their ads are great too. When I got there it looked a lot more like northwest Indiana. I enjoyed the tour at the Jelly Belly (C) factory in-spite of the fact that it was during their Christmas vacation and got a sample at the end and bought a bag of their misfit candy.( It was good.) I had friends from Wisconsin, they had accent like on Prairrie Home Companion, but that was when I was living in the Chicago area and mostly we talked about if green bay or the Bears would do better that year. I drew one of my greatest piece s on the subject of a great highland battle in the which the Morrisons fought.

 Wisconsin has a certain otherness with its mythology. Everything is resting on a large fur.  It stands for the Bray Road Beast and the large black bear population. The Wisconsin Bray road Beast is similar to the Highland wulver which is best described as a mixer of man and wolf but not aggressive unless provoked. Behind everything is a butte and Lake Superior from the Apostle Islands. According to Ojibwe who were the first inhabitance of the area, the island were formed when Winneboujou ( a spirit) threw rocks at a dear that was swimming in the Great Lakes. The French gave the Islands the name it has now. The little ball on the fur is a cheese. Original, the state was known for wheat but that declined due to poor soil. Cheese is what rescued the state with the farmer puling to process the dairy. There were 1500 factories there by 1899.  The flag standing in the Cheese is Von Bismark’s German flag. The greatest immigration to the state was from Prussia and northern Germany in the 1840’s/50’s and the state is still very German. I drew this picture this year with pencil and white charcoal and is 8” x10.”

       The name of this piece is “Oak Trunk” and is done in ink and was draw about two years ago. Oak trees have always had a mystical quality. The Celts view it as a symbol of stability. This particular one was one in which children played. They were at school when I drew it because it had an interesting trunk. It was directly at the road so that one could see the effect of the road. I only had a few pen at the time, but did the best I could. If you would like to buy this or any other of my artwork email me at MatthewMorrison76@yahoo.com.